The question is will the maps data get better over time, as Apple passively collects information from people using Maps, or will it languish for a year and see only marginal improvements like Siri? Google Maps was not the Google Maps of today when it first launched, after all. Pessimistically, this sort of software service does not seem to be an organizational strength for Apple.

Apparently, the maps improved a lot during the iOS 6 beta period. It seems inconceivable that Apple spent many millions on doing maps inhouse and then let this crucial service for smartphone users languish. Then again, lack of conceivability has seldom stopped Apple before.

I'm thinking there is no room for middle ground here: either Apple does what I expect it to, which is fixing places where the maps are incorrect, getting more cities on 3D, more map detail where it's lacking, more POIs and so on, and the maps get better and everyone forgets about Google Maps, or they don't fix anything, there is a user revolt, and Apple falls flat on their face for the first time in a long while.

The new maps app has been getting a fair bit of coverage in the UK over the last day, possibly because we're used to Apple treating us as an important market, and Maps in the UK (and, apparently, the rest of the EU) seems to be much, much poorer than in North America. The road data is okay, but POI placement is erratic and labels are missing. Search is much worse, too – it hasn't been able to locate the majority of addresses I've given it.

The user interface is much better, and the maps are attractive (switching the label size to 'small' seems to help show more of them), but the data needs to improve, fast.

Apparently, the maps improved a lot during the iOS 6 beta period. It seems inconceivable that Apple spent many millions on doing maps inhouse and then let this crucial service for smartphone users languish. Then again, lack of conceivability has seldom stopped Apple before.

I'm thinking there is no room for middle ground here: either Apple does what I expect it to, which is fixing places where the maps are incorrect, getting more cities on 3D, more map detail where it's lacking, more POIs and so on, and the maps get better and everyone forgets about Google Maps, or they don't fix anything, there is a user revolt, and Apple falls flat on their face for the first time in a long while.

I don't get it, why would Apple not fix anything? Like you said, millions were spent to get this Maps app up and running so they can move away from depending on Google. There is no way Apple is going to let Maps stagnate to where people jump ship to another maps app or off iOS. This is Maps version 1.0, it needs time to mature. Apple needs more crowd sourced data. Had Apple stayed with Google Maps for iOS 6, everyone would be whining about how it doesn't have vector maps and turn-by-turn navigation like Android.

I'm not trying to defend Apple Maps saying it's 100x better than Google maps. All I'm saying is that it's a decent transition away from Google Maps for a version 1.0 app. Give Apple 12-18 months and I'll bet it'll be just as good as Google Maps.

I don't doubt that people are having problems with the Maps app, but my (anecdotal) experience has been great. Used the turn-by-turn directions all last weekend in Charleston, SC with no problems at all.

It would have been nice if all the cities used simple polygons instead of the texture mapped mess I'm seeing. I can turn it off but that's a lot of work on the other end for little practical value. The energy could have been spent elsewhere.

I have an iPhone 4. And IMO ... the new Maps is a wash. Sure we have the vector based imagery and a smooth UI. That's great. But losing Street View blows any way you slice it. The 3D flyover view seems "interesting" ... but unless you are flying around in a helicopter what good does it do you if you are trying to actually get somewhere as opposed to just visually viewing a skyline a la Google Earth? Street View was incredibly useful for seeing what an unfamiliar destination actually looked like so it would be recognizable when you finally approached it on foot or in a vehicle. But no matter .... since I still have a couple of months left on my iPhone 4 contract I can't use that feature anyway. I was hoping the new turn-by-turn navigation would make the new Maps be a net positive for me but after using it a few times I simply must say that it sucks. Again, because I have an iPhone 4 it doesn't support the verbal turn-by-turn instructions. I figure this is because that feature utilizes Siri which is not supported on this model. Ok fine. I don't like that but I understand. The reason why I say this feature still sucks is because it's supposed to still provide the turn-by-turn directions visually. It's supposed to do that even if the app is not open or if your phone has gone to sleep .... and it doesn't. But let's say I put that aside. Even if I keep that app open and try to use it ... which w/o verbal instructions pretty much defeats the purpose b/c you have to take your eyes off the road to pay attention to the phone ... but let's say I try to do it anyway, what ends up happening is that the visual instructions are fairly useless. Let me give an example ....

So I'm driving home from work today and I test it out. I'm on the highway and it tells me I have to drive 4 miles and turn left on my exit. Cool ... starting off fine. But then when I'm 2 miles away the instructions STILL SAY "4 miles and turn left". When I neared the exit it eventually changed and said ".5 miles and turn left". Better ... but then when I got off the exit and was sitting at the stoplight it STILL said ".5 miles and turn left". WTF? So I turn left and the instructions continued to say that for a good minute before it moved to the next instruction. This time drive straight for "6 miles and turn left". I'm on a street now so it takes a while longer. But again ... halfway there it still says "6 miles and turn left". 3/4 of the way there and the message stays the same. When I finally got to my turn it STILL said "6 miles and turn left". So now I have to make that left ... drive a few hundred feet and make another quick left. By the time it told me to make the second left I was halfway down the street. And for the record ... I had the location tracking icon selected in the lower left the entire time. The blue dot showed exactly where I was. But the instructions just don't keep up. The bottom line is that a navigation app should give you a sense of HOW FAR you are away from your turn ... which is incredibly useful when driving in unfamiliar areas. And it should KEEP UP WITH YOU. Telling me to turn after I've already made the turn or passed it b/c the app didn't tell me to is a big STEAMING PILE OF FAIL. Guess I won't be canceling OnStar turn-by-turn directions anytime soon.

In the UK Apple Maps has been getting a load of shit for inaccuracies - and this seems justified. It's utterly unacceptable that major towns should be misnamed or miss-located (where are they getting this data from? Not TomTom surely?). The relative sparcity of data compared to GoogleMaps makes it look less useful, and the way the text aligns with wiggly roads is just plain fugly.

However, you can always use a bookmarklet to get GoogleMaps, and I use a nav app anyway for driving. Didn't use StreetView much when on cellular data, so let's see how it goes. It will be interesting how it shakes out if Google does release an app...

The road data is okay, but POI placement is erratic and labels are missing. Search is much worse, too – it hasn't been able to locate the majority of addresses I've given it.

The user interface is much better, and the maps are attractive (switching the label size to 'small' seems to help show more of them), but the data needs to improve, fast.

This sums up my stance here in Southern California. The map data itself seems fine from a cursory glance, and from a technical standpoint the app itself feels like a nice improvement, but the search suffers significantly. Haven't tested out POIs yet, but just for searching addresses it has the same issue with Spotlight in iOS/OS X, it's just not tolerant of typos/misspellings/alternate spellings. I was looking for a street in Los Angeles (and specifically put Los Angeles) but since I didn't know there was a space in the street name it'd only give me a result in Arizona.

OAW wrote:

I was hoping the new turn-by-turn navigation would make the new Maps be a net positive for me but after using it a few times I simply must say that it sucks. Again, because I have an iPhone 4 it doesn't support the verbal turn-by-turn instructions.

Lack of transit and walking directions is unfortunate, but there are apps available that take care of this a bit better than maps in IOS 5. I'm not sold on the idea of launching external apps either, negates the point of using Maps.app in the first place. Come to think of it, iMaps really feels more like an API rather than a fully fleshed out application, it seems to work better with other application (Transit for instance) as a front end.

Street readability isn't quite there yet (is using black and bold for font really so difficult?!?), and Apple really needs to work on identify where the main arteries are and providing that information on the map. It is extremely smooth and distinct from Google's offering, just needs a bit more spit/polish.

Satellite images, meh. Never use 'em, nor do I use the 3D. While the loss of StreetView is unfortunate, it seem that Apple could alleviate this a bit by creating a social game that takes advantage of the new panoramic function in the camera.app. Sure it'll be goofy watching people spin around in the middle of the street with their iPhone, but done correctly (with the right incentives) I think you could get enough people to to do it to fill out some of the hotspots. It's unlikely apple will ever catchup with google here.

So far, it seems like a nice API with a bit of headroom, but not a genuine replacement for Google Maps. I think trying to shoehorn it into that space is the major cause of the lackluster reception.

In the UK Apple Maps has been getting a load of shit for inaccuracies - and this seems justified. It's utterly unacceptable that major towns should be misnamed or miss-located (where are they getting this data from? Not TomTom surely?). The relative sparcity of data compared to GoogleMaps makes it look less useful, and the way the text aligns with wiggly roads is just plain fugly.

Yeah it is Tom Tom for all the US and Europe. I don't know why data is so much worse for the UK. There have been people comparing shots with maps from Nokia and Tom Tom though and it's surprising how similar the errors are. (Which is weird with Nokia since they do their own maps)

If you don't like it though there are a slew of free or $0.99 mapping apps that use Bing Maps, Open Maps or with a few Google Maps. So it's not like you [b]have[/i] to use Apple Maps. There are even some Google Street View apps. (Undoubtedly trying to cash in before the official Google map app is released)

Apple maps is pretty good around Texas where I live. In fact, the satellite images are more detailed and better than Google Maps and I feel the whole UI is cleaner (and no ads!)

I checked a couple of places in the UK where I have family, and the comparison verdict there is more tenuous. The Apple maps satellite imagery is more up to date, but lower resolution compared to Google maps.

People also need to understand most of the issues with Apple maps are server-side (aside form Street view), so improvements will be on a rolling basis rather than a software update. If Apple ports a new dataset in, the improvements can be substantial overnight.

In the UK Apple Maps has been getting a load of shit for inaccuracies - and this seems justified. It's utterly unacceptable that major towns should be misnamed or miss-located (where are they getting this data from? Not TomTom surely?). The relative sparcity of data compared to GoogleMaps makes it look less useful, and the way the text aligns with wiggly roads is just plain fugly.

Yeah it is Tom Tom for all the US and Europe. I don't know why data is so much worse for the UK. There have been people comparing shots with maps from Nokia and Tom Tom though and it's surprising how similar the errors are. (Which is weird with Nokia since they do their own maps)

If you don't like it though there are a slew of free or $0.99 mapping apps that use Bing Maps, Open Maps or with a few Google Maps. So it's not like you [b]have[/i] to use Apple Maps. There are even some Google Street View apps. (Undoubtedly trying to cash in before the official Google map app is released)

Or you can go to maps.google.com to the home screen. But then people like to whine.

Apparently, the maps improved a lot during the iOS 6 beta period. It seems inconceivable that Apple spent many millions on doing maps inhouse and then let this crucial service for smartphone users languish. Then again, lack of conceivability has seldom stopped Apple before.

I'm thinking there is no room for middle ground here: either Apple does what I expect it to, which is fixing places where the maps are incorrect, getting more cities on 3D, more map detail where it's lacking, more POIs and so on, and the maps get better and everyone forgets about Google Maps, or they don't fix anything, there is a user revolt, and Apple falls flat on their face for the first time in a long while.

I don't get it, why would Apple not fix anything? Like you said, millions were spent to get this Maps app up and running so they can move away from depending on Google. There is no way Apple is going to let Maps stagnate to where people jump ship to another maps app or off iOS. This is Maps version 1.0, it needs time to mature. Apple needs more crowd sourced data. Had Apple stayed with Google Maps for iOS 6, everyone would be whining about how it doesn't have vector maps and turn-by-turn navigation like Android.

I'm not trying to defend Apple Maps saying it's 100x better than Google maps. All I'm saying is that it's a decent transition away from Google Maps for a version 1.0 app. Give Apple 12-18 months and I'll bet it'll be just as good as Google Maps.

Of course Apple will fix problems in the map data. Back when Google Maps first started there were inaccuracies. At least three main roads in Central London were marked as two way when they were in fact one way...

The only difference then was that before the iPhone, the number of people who were using Google Maps on a smartphone were tiny. But it gives people something to complain about.

Of course Apple will fix problems in the map data. Back when Google Maps first started there were inaccuracies. At least three main roads in Central London were marked as two way when they were in fact one way...

The only difference then was that before the iPhone, the number of people who were using Google Maps on a smartphone were tiny. But it gives people something to complain about.

I remember when people warned against using Google Maps cause it'd provide screwed up directions or had bad map data, I still used it cause the site/software was better but checked against Mapquest and stuff to be safe...I have no clue when it became acceptable/considered reliable though, I guess that just happened gradually over the years.

I have a strong impression that google maps was much better in the US. Round my way in the UK it was adequate, but often out of date. The public transport stuff wasn't much use (the fault of the transport companies, judging by my experience).

Open Streetmap, especially their points of interest, are very useful here. If I were a mapping company I'd import them.

It's important to be clear. The new application is great: a better and cleaner interface. The FlyOver whizbang is cool, but of limited use. The vector-based maps look good; they are good-looking maps and they load quickly. The turn-by-turn directions feature is great. The loss of transit data is too bad, as is the loss of street view, and I'm annoyed that there are no built-in cycle directions.

But now to the rub. Apple's maps database SUCKS compared to Google's masterpiece. And how could it be otherwise? Google is freakin' Google, the crowned emperor of data, and they've been building their maps for a decade. The richness of building information, the freshness of that data, the profusion of points of information data, the tiny little nuggets of data on local businesses, endlessly et cetera, are what makes Google Maps so useful. And that rich data is combined with Google's decade of refining its search technology, with which I can type the least comprehensible, barely relevant search query, and still get what I'm looking for. Apple's flexibility on search terms doesn't compare – nor does their dataset. I don't know how that could change - unless Apple suddenly became Google and had a decade of experience in amassing the data and perfecting the algorithms.

Apple, you know that I love you, that I have too many of your logos in my house, but I'm with Google on this maps fiasco. Shake hands. Do it for me. Let Google Maps on to the App Store. And Google, don't stiff us: we want you to compete tooth-and-nail with Apple Maps. We want the best possible Maps app from you and we want it now.

Re. public transport information, I don't miss it as such, since Google have never managed to get most of the UK on board, but I am worried that the opportunity for a good solution is being left in the hands of third parties. To illustrate, here's a UK bus time app. I think it speaks for itself.

Spoiler: show

The dark, dark side of skeuomorphic design. And JPEG compression.

Nb. The screenshot is a PNG. Those compression artefacts are in the app.

I've been an Apple user for over a close to two decades. And in that time Apple, like any other big company, don't always make the best choices for their customers. And those missteps we can generally make assumptions, but for the most part we don't really know the whole story. This one however, was just pure and utter fucking arrogance on Apple's part. Their need to first go head to head with Samsung instead of working out some deal that benefits both, especially Apple since Samsung is a much larger and broader electronics company than Apple will ever be. However, that's a different argument for a different thread. Apple decides to step on the toes of Google, for good or bad, again another discussion for another thread. But to think they could undertake a huge project like global mapping systems and roll it out in less time then it took Google to iron out their mapping system - and for those of us with good memory know, Google Maps wasn't a perfect product, especially outside the US. And Apple, as a major global brand, with the success of it's iPhones and iPads, and then to roll out Maps an INCOMPLETE system WORLD WIDE. There is no other word but just fucking arrogance on Apple's part. I'm glad Apple has finally found some success, but they're not MS or Samsung yet, they can't bully their way while 90%+ of the market (in this case MS) has no choice but to accept it. However, Apple's position in the market is tentative. Smartphones aren't long term investments like computers. Nokia, Ericsson - and then Sony Ericsson, Motorola, RIM Blackberry, etc, were all at some point the king/queen of the hill. Cell phone sales are fickle. Apple will not sustain a lead for long, but they should have tried to maintain some integrity as long as they could. Maps in iOS6 is a 'half pregnant measure' (some Eastern European country saying).

Anywhoo, that's my rant and answer to the question. I live in HK and it pisses me off that a feature that was complete before is now in iOS 6 a few years behind what I had in iOS 5 and prior.

Re. public transport information, I don't miss it as such, since Google have never managed to get most of the UK on board, but I am worried that the opportunity for a good solution is being left in the hands of third parties. To illustrate, here's a UK bus time app. I think it speaks for itself.

I welcome the third-party bus time-table apps. With Google Maps competition is stifled since public transport information is included. There's less incentive to create a independent app. Now there is competition which will hopefully create something good.

From my rather unscientific comparison, there seem to be areas where Google have better satellite imagery and other areas where Apple wins out. Living in Northern Ireland, there are certain areas of interest to me where Apple now provides significantly better imagery than Google – and a few areas where it's worse. I think that a lot of journalists (and commenters) are taking a rather rose-tinted view of Google's efforts and forgetting that there are areas where they've been very slow to to provide a decent service. The comparison on the BBC for instance is ridiculously one-sided, but then the BBC always seems to be having a go at Apple, so surprise surprise.

For a version 1 product, I'm happy enough with Apple's effort so far. On the whole it clearly lags behind Google, but hopefully the criticism will lead to rapid improvements and the competition will make Google up its game. Between having access to Google's web app and the Apple's native app, it seems like the best of both worlds. Can't quite understand why people are so upset about competition developing. If Apple blocked access to Google maps I would understand, but otherwise there seems to be a lot of over-emotional nonsense being spouted.

I wonder if Apple will ever make a web interface to their maps – that make comparison a lot easier.

If Apple blocked access to Google maps I would understand, but otherwise there seems to be a lot of over-emotional nonsense being spouted.

It's not so much Apple about not blocking access to Google, or against the idea of competition at all. I doubt there's one person here (or it's in a minority at least) who supports Apple's own efforts for their own Maps utility, but making the default Map application an incomplete solution is just bad business practice for a company that for a brief moment in time has become successful. They should have con-currently further developed the Maps application while keeping the default to Google. I don't know what the story is with Google, but in terms of market value and future (sales) this could be one of the many straws that could eventually break the camel's back. Apple can't (and shouldn't, IMO) compete head to head with Samsung (whom I think are equally ridiculous with their business strategy of saturating the market with a million variations of smartphones on a limited platform - have you tried shopping for a Samsung Android phone? It's insane the options Samsung has). The last time Apple went head to head against a company(MS) that opened (so to speak) their platform to hardware manufactures providing tons of alternative options, and each played the specifications game, Apple lost and were on shaky ground. It took Steve Jobs and a series of good fortunes, and bold steps (moving to Intel, NextStep OS, etc) to get Apple on stable footing. But it's like Apple repeating history again. Apple's iPhone 5 is not stacking up to the competition because one company/platform just can't compete with a thousand others. No NFC, larger screens, etc, fine, I'm okay with the iPhone 5 and think it's a great phone. But Apple just makes that one iPhone model. Samsung, ASUS, HTC, they're all competing in the same space, and they're playing the specs game where the general consumer may not know better. 'LARGER SCREENS!!!' (even tho the iPhone 5 has a greater density screen). No NFC!! (NFC is a debatable required spec, but in some markets it could be the choice between Apple singular choice and the myriad of choices available from other brands.

And now the message for now is, 'Apple's Maps may not be a complete solution in your country/city' (consumers not immediately aware of the fact you can download Google's solution), but hey, check this out, Samsung Android phone with larger screens, NFC, and with a mature maps solution out of the box (and cheaper in some cases). Do you see what I'm getting at? This isn't an emotional reaction. This is a rational reaction to what could be a misstep by Apple globally. Apple's branding will suffer if they forget the one thing they're good at, a great OOBE. iOS6 reduces that OOBE the first time a user clicks on Maps and goes, 'wha? how come there's a road stretching across the harbour?' - No joke, the Map application has a road instead of a cross harbour tunnel for HK. Minor gripe, but the spit and shine, the brand that Apple has built looks tacky now. I know Apple will fix this. But why now, after building all this cache, slowly erode it one by one with decisions like Maps? They could have made it a beta test, heck I know I'd be all over helping Apple beta test their Maps software and send in trouble shooting data. I'm a nerd, not the general consumer, so I don't mind using beta software (like I use Google Chrome beta). Give access to the nerds and Apple would have had a few hundred thousand beta testers world wide helping them with the teething problems with Maps. Within a year they would have had a better Maps solution. Instead, they release Maps in iOS6 and now millions of average joe consumer are beta testers too. Yeah i know, version one, this is Apple's practice. But not when smartphones at this point in the cultural evolution has become critical for many people. Does what I say sound unreasonable? Am I over stating the facts here? I could be, and I'm okay with admitting I'm wrong. Till then, I'm holding on to my opinion like Republicans* are sure they'll get a white man in to the white house in a few months time.

*It's a joke. A JOKE.

edit: this argument requires one to frame this in context of over 2 decades of Apple history.

The rational reaction to Apple Maps being inaccurate would be to use the freely available Google Maps at maps.google.com. It's very unlikely Apple will block the Google Maps app. When that app is available people would just download that instead.

I think it's very unlikely that someone would switch phones just because of this.

Apple dropped Google because they had to. Look at the state of mapping in EVERY Android device, compared to iOS last monday.

Apple was clearly getting the short end of that stick and it was blatantly intentional. As long as they stayed with Google as their mapping solution, Android would ALWAYS have a mapping advantage.

Now, Google maps have been around for years, but they were built on the shoulders of OTHER companies that have been around even longer. GIS systems have been around 20-25 years (or longer, I'm just going from memory here). Google's REAL innovation wasn't creating the data, it was buying it and releasing it to the end user for FREE. Prior to that, it was all paywalled. I narrowly avoided being hired by one of these companies in the early 90's (it would have been a crap job, staring at sterographic imaging and hand digitizing the information), it was bought by AOL, and then acquired by Google. That end result was all pay-to-play prior to google buying it.

The end result is: As first-mover in the field, Google has a superior dataset. Will Apple catch parity? I dunno. Depends on the crumbs left, and how serious they are about growing the GIS data.

The data's pretty good for the A-list roads I was on yesterday, and being able to Initiate a trip, get feedback on specifics (how long til I get there, how far away is the next turn), and receive directions without taking the iPhone out of my motorcycle jacket is a kickass feature.

I think it's very unlikely that someone would switch phones just because of this.

You obviously live in America and don't know much about what it's like living in a country where telecoms aren't draconian with cell phone contracts. In the other countries, especially in SE Asian countries (where you could argue we're the best electronics marketing future trend markers available), we don't pay a leg and an arm for our contracts, nor are the phones locked (it's illegal to lock phones to a provider), in addition to often having the latest and greatest phones (from SE Asian country brands, i.e. Samsung, Sony, HTC, etc). Marketing memes for phones are much faster moving, and consumers are fickle. I've already noticed a few friends switching to the Samsung Galaxy SIII lately after their contract ended - which by the way, some telecom will give you a greater discount if you hand in an old smart phone.

Marketing memes for smartphones travel much faster. Eroding one's own brand in a fickle smart phone market, not very clever.

edit: speak of the debil: one iOS6 Maps meme making it's round on the interweb:

If Apple blocked access to Google maps I would understand, but otherwise there seems to be a lot of over-emotional nonsense being spouted.

It's not so much Apple about not blocking access to Google, or against the idea of competition at all. I doubt there's one person here (or it's in a minority at least) who supports Apple's own efforts for their own Maps utility, but making the default Map application an incomplete solution is just bad business practice for a company that for a brief moment in time has become successful.... Yeah i know, version one, this is Apple's practice. But not when smartphones at this point in the cultural evolution has become critical for many people. Does what I say sound unreasonable? Am I over stating the facts here? I could be, and I'm okay with admitting I'm wrong. Till then, I'm holding on to my opinion like Republicans* are sure they'll get a white man in to the white house in a few months time.

I had other comments in mind when I talked about over-emotional nonsense. You've got plenty of valid points there that I wouldn't lump in the same category.

I think Joel_B makes a good point though about Apple having to move away from Google. They simply can't be reliant upon a competitor's product for a major feature. Neither could they have shipped two map apps – that simply wouldn't be the Apple way. Really the situation is a reflection of the fact that Apple is and always has been very America-centric. If the app is good enough for over there, as it generally seems to be, then the rest of the world doesn't matter so much to them. The America-centricity (or really USA-centricity) is what Apple should be criticised for, especially if they're hoping to expand into China. But I suspect that like antenna-gate, this will turn out to be an insignificant event in the long run, compared to the reaction at the time.

If we're going to talk about framing the argument in the context of Apple's more than 2 decades then it might be worth remembering that it's been 'successful' for more than just a brief moment – unless your bar for success is being the most valuable company in the world in which case none of its competitors have ever been successful (except Microsoft).

The new Apple Maps app is FAR easier to utilize in this regard for me.

Predictive popup for street names is VERY useful, saves me extra typing. Also having a History of past inputs right there is nice.

I also prefer the overall look of the map, and find the Routes and Roads are marked in a way that makes it easier to determine what a particular road, or Exit number is, without fooling around zooming in or out to a certain level in order to get the name to appear.

There are also little icons that show reported Accidents, Road Closures and Road Work. Awesome!

The only thing that I would like to see added is multiple destinations (A to B to C) but it's not even that huge a deal.

If we're going to talk about framing the argument in the context of Apple's more than 2 decades then it might be worth remembering that it's been 'successful' for more than just a brief moment – unless your bar for success is being the most valuable company in the world in which case none of its competitors have ever been successful (except Microsoft).

No, you're right, I'm not talking about the most valuable company in the world. But I do mean how Apple has dealt with competition in the past, especially up against MS, (and later when it opened the Mac platform, and then closed it off again, etc). A closed platform competing with an open platform hasn't boded well for Apple in the past, and I don't see that being a long term success plan in the future. 2-3 years, drop to below 50% in global market sales for iOS devices? What's your bet? 5 years? A decade of Apple holding a major share of the market?

edit: I should repeat, I'm not saying Apple shouldn't have made their own Maps app. Nor did I say (I didn't make my self clear, and I do apologise) that in iOS 6 Apple should have included two Map apps. What I meant is that on their website, Apple could have encouraged people/nerds/geeks/etc to download the beta Map app and help Apple test and improve their App. A few hundred thousand users helping Apple trouble shoot is better a meme about iOS6 maps being the butt end of jokes. i.e. the image above.=